


Haunted House

by citation (WannaDay)



Category: Day6 (Band)
Genre: Amusement Park, Canon Compliant, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Haunted House, JYPfamily, JYPnation, M/M, Roller Coaster, chaos at the dorm, scared jae being cute af, smol child dowoon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-26
Updated: 2017-12-06
Packaged: 2018-09-20 00:55:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 16,369
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9468272
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WannaDay/pseuds/citation
Summary: "I want to go to a haunted house with the group. You know Jae is really scared of those things." - Sungjin on VLIVE.So what happens if Jae and Brian go into a haunted house together?





	1. in which Jae tries to act cool but ultimately fails

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for the prompt, Sungjin.

 

 

 

 

 

“I’ve always wanted to go to a haunted house,” Sungjin said brightly.

Jae rolled his eyes. “Congrats, Bob. You got your wish.”

The members were at an amusement park. Large roller coaster rides towered above them, crowds of friends and family were bustling all around, and the smell of candy and all sorts of food filled the air, along with the noises of laughter, screams, and chatter. The sun was still high in the air, with just a couple wisps of cloud.

Sungjin thought it was a good idea to let out any stress before heading back to Korea after their performances abroad. It would be fun, he said.

Fun as in riding super scary roller coaster rides that the maknae chose himself. Jae felt like his legs would turn to jelly if he were to ride another one of Dowoon’s picks.

And then Sungjin had suggested they go to a ride that didn’t require much energy, and thus they were currently in front of the haunted house attraction.

" _House"_  maybe was an understatement. The thing was  _huge._ It looked more like a mansion than it was a house. It was out of what appeared to be cracking cement, two stories high, with a roof that looked like it was going to collapse at any moment. It even had a creepy front yard as the queue line, with grave stones scattered about. The line wasn't too busy either.  

“It looks fun,” Brian said. He stood next to Jae and gave him a smirk.

“Oh come on.” Jae glared at Brian and Sungjin. “You two conspired to ditch me in a haunted house. You guys said it during our radio show.”

Brian laughed. “We were just joking.”

“I’m not convinced. Besides.” Jae looked at all of his members one by one. “I’m not afraid of haunted houses.”

“Then go in one by yourself,” Wonpil said innocently.

Jae gave him an _‘I’ll kill you when we get back’_ look before pointing at Brian. “I bet he’s the one that’s actually scared.”

Brian pretended to look offended. “Really now, Jae?”

Jae didn’t back down. “I bet you ten bucks that you’re actually scared.”

“Whoa, you _are_ serious.” Brian nodded. “All right, deal. We’ll each go in one by one and we’ll see what happens.”

“NO!” Jae said a little too quickly. “Uh, I mean... No... fair. Who knows what tricks can be pulled if we go alone? Let’s go together.”

“What, you mean like the two of us?”

“Uh-huh.”

The other members watched them talk, silently eager.

“All right,” Brian finally decided. “Let’s do this.”

Sungjin chuckled to himself. Jae gave him a glare.

“We’ll be getting some snacks,” the leader said, ignoring Jae. “Dowoon looks like he’s hungry.”

“I want cotton candy, hyung!” Dowoon exclaimed.

Wonpil grabbed the maknae’s hand and began walking towards a random direction. He looked over his shoulder and smiled brightly at the older members. “Have fun, Brian-hyung and Jaehyung-hyung!”

“You be careful,” Jae replied. Wonpil just laughed.

Sungjin patted Jae’s thin shoulder. “Good luck.” And then he ran off before Jae could reply. He caught up with Dowoon and Wonpil, ruffling the maknae’s hair.

“Look at them,” Brian said. “They look like parents with their baby.”

“That is one big baby,” Jae said.

Brian laughed. “Yeah, well. I guess we’re all family after all.” He and Jae had switched to using English like they always did whenever it was just the two of them (or with other English speakers). He turned to look at the haunted house. It was big and menacing—so out of place with the sunny afternoon and the smiles on happy faces around them. “Let’s go.”

Jae nodded. “Again, I must warn you.” He looked at the haunted house, determined. “I’m not scared at all.”

 

* * *

 

 

“I’M FUCKING SCARED, MAN, LET’S GET OUT OF HERE.”

They were only one minute inside the haunted house and Jae was already losing his mind.

He seemed brave for the first couple of steps. Then the scary sounds started to register in his brain. He started hesitating. His hands started to shake. His glasses kept getting crooked on his face, and he had to adjust it over and over again. 

He tried. Oh, how he tried to _be_ and _look_ brave. But it didn’t work.

The second they encountered the first ghost, Jae clung onto Brian’s arm and wouldn’t let go.

“I’M SO SCARED. NO, WAIT FUCK I’M NOT SCARED AT ALL,” Jae bellowed.

“Stop contradicting yourself,” Brian said. He tried to tug his arm away but Jae had him in a deadly grip.

“Is it gone?” Jae wheezed. He had his eyes shut. “The ghost—Is it gone?” He heard Brian sigh.

“It’s still right in front of you.”

“AW HELL NO.”

“But it’s okay. I got ya. Just keep your eyes closed and walk slowly.”

And so they somehow made halfway through, with Brian leading the way and Jae refusing to open his eyes. He heard the screams of the “ghosts” trying to scare him—and _damnit they were succeeding._ The air was cold. Scary music was playing loudly and ringing in his ears.

Then things suddenly became quiet. Jae braved himself to take a peek.

They were in a dark room with artificial trees surrounding them and artificial grass underneath their feet. Jae spun around, trying to make out anything in the darkness.

“What is this, a graveyard?” he asked.

Brian whistled. “This is one huge haunted house.”

Jae looked down and realized that he was still clinging onto Brian’s arm. He let go and took a step back. Jae coughed, trying to sound casual. “I’m okay.”

“Dude, it felt like I lost blood circulation to my arm.”

“And I’m sorry for that.” _Keep cool, Jae._

“Guess I won the bet, huh?” Brian grinned.

 _Okay, not so cool now._ Jae sighed. “I guess.”

They stayed in silence for a couple seconds, just looking at their surroundings and wondering where to go next. There were two pathways in front of them, each leading to a door. They had to choose one.

“Left or right,” Brian wondered.

Jae spotted something shining behind them. “Wait, I think I see something.” He grabbed Brian by the sleeve and pulled him along. They pushed away tree branches that blocked them.

Finally, they found a large statue of a heart, almost at Jae’s height. Engraved on the heart were bright words that read:

 

_“A KISS SHALL LEAD YOU OUT OF THE DARKNESS”_

 

Below it was a small white piece of paper. Jae bent down and picked it up.

“Look at this,” he said, showing it to Brian. They read it together.

 _“For couples, just kiss each other and an exit will open here. A shortcut out of the haunted house._ _Cheers.”_

Jae blinked. “Well. Looks like somebody left a cheat sheet.”

“So much for solving a riddle,” Brian muttered.

Jae laughed. “That’s a silly way to pair people up in a haunted house. But oh well.”

“Yeah.”

Just then, a high pitch shriek cut through the air. Jae screamed.

“WHAT WAS THAT.”

“Another ghost, I guess,” Brian said. “The scream's from the hallway we came from. I guess they’re coming.”

“OH GOD WHY.”

The shrieks grew louder.

“Let’s get going.” Brian started walking back to the two pathways and the doors. “We gotta hurry up and choose a door.”

Suddenly a loud clanking noise filled the room, as if chains were being rattled against each other.

“I’M SCARED.”

“We’ll get out of here soon,” Brian said reassuringly.

“BRIAN, WAIT.”

Brian stopped in his tracks. He turned around to find that Jae hasn’t moved an inch from where he stood in front of the heart-shaped statue. In Jae’s hand was the piece of paper, and Jae was staring intensely at it.

Suddenly Jae turned to Brian, his eyes serious. Or seriously scared.

“Brian, kiss me.”

Brian blinked. A couple seconds passed, his mind processing Jae’s words. Finally he said, “What?”

“Just. KISS ME. Now. Please.” Jae’s voice was pleading.

“Are you crazy?”

“No, I’m dead serious.” Jae walked over to his friend. He grabbed Brian by the shoulders and shook them hard. “Dude, we can get out of here right here right now if we kiss.”

“The paper says that it’ll only work for couples.”

Jae laughed a hysterical laugh. “Dude, we’re a couple! Jaehyungparkian, right?” His hands were shaking madly as they slid off Brian’s shoulders.

Brian rolled his eyes. “Not a _real_ couple.”

“We’ll be a real couple now. Brian, I love you.” 

“Dude, what the hell?”

“I love you, Brian Kang.”

“Jae, stop—“

“I love you, Kang Younghyun.”

“You can call me by any of my names and I’ll still say no—“

“I love you, YoungK.”

“Jae, _stop._ ”

There was a shrill scream near them. Jae screamed along. The noise of chains rattling grew closer and closer. Jae’s mind was ready to explode.

“BRIAN, PLEASE.”

“All right all right!” Brian threw his hands up in exasperation. He looked at his friend dead in the eyes. “You’re the one who asked for this. Don’t regret anything.” Then he took a step towards Jae. Brian lifted a hand to his friend’s face and leaned in.

At their close proximity, Jae suddenly flinched. “Wait no, I change my mind—“

“JAE.”

“I changed my mind,” Jae said quickly, taking a couple steps back. His heart started pounding faster—due to fear or something else. “Sorry, it’s a stupid idea.”

Brian’s hand dropped to his side. His face was unreadable. “Okay, fine.”

Another horrible scream echoed throughout the room. The noise of chains became louder and closer that Jae was sure that it was right next to him.

Needless to say, Jae screamed even louder. It felt like years have been drained out of his life. “I CHANGED MY MIND AGAIN DUDE PLEASE KISS ME PLEASE.”

“Jae, make up your mind.”

“I’M SERIOUS THIS TIME.”

Brian sighed. He took a step towards his friend.

“No wait, don’t!” Jae yelled. “Actually yes, kiss me. No wait—“ Another screech came from down the hallway. “No no no, don’t— No wait, kiss me—“ He stared hard at the ground. “Yes? No? Yes—No...Yes—“

“Oh for goodness' sake,” Brian muttered under his breath.

And with one swift movement, Brian put his hands on each side of Jae’s head.

Without a word, he pulled his tall friend down towards him until their lips roughly collided in a kiss.

What happened next was unexpected.

A million thoughts exploded in Jae’s mind.

He remembered the first time they met.

_“Hi, I’m Jae.”_

_“Hi, Jae. That’s quite an accent you’ve got there. American?”_

_“Yeah, actually. Long Beach. Your English is pretty good.”_

_“I lived in Canada for four years. I’m Kang Younghyun. You can call me Brian, though.”_

_“Nice to meet you, Brian. I’ve been to Canada myself for a bit.”_

_Brian smiled. “Really now?”  
_

_Jae wondered if it was a sincere or fake smile. Brian looked really chic and cold._

_“Yeah, when I was little,” Jae replied, smiling back. He couldn’t help but feel relieved. “Thank goodness I’ve got someone to be my English-Korean translator.”_

_Brian laughed. “And who would that be?”_

_“You, of course.”_

He remembered when they hated each other. He remembered Brian talking about it one day at a radio show, with Jae sitting right next to him.

_“Jaehyung-hyung who's next to my right, right now. At first, I was with Sungjin-hyung, Wonpil, and the team. Hyung came last and took my guitar away. And with many other reasons, it seemed like we hated each other more than others in the team. But now we even have a better relationship than others in the team. We share the same room. We chat. I like you more. Let’s work together comfortably and happily. Fighting, hyung. I love you.”_

It always felt weird to hear Brian calling him “hyung”. Jae was so used to people calling him by just his name. It would always throw him off guard when Brian spoke to him or about him in Korean, having to use honorifics. He was so used to the sound of Brian’s voice when he said simply: “Jae”.

He also remembered when they were assigned as roommates.

_“Well, looks like we’ll be spending a lot of time together.”_

_“You’re gonna have to get used to my weird sleeping habit,” Jae said._

_“...Sleeping habit?”_

_“I kind of talk in my sleep...”_

_“Oh, that’s not that bad—“_

_“...fluently in different languages...”_

_“Wait what?”_

_“...that I may not be able to speak when awake.”_

_“What the heck?”_

Other memories rushed in.

_Jae waking up Brian at 5 A.M. in the morning due to his sleep talking/yelling._

_Jae and Brian looking at each other right before a performance._

_Waking up in the morning on Tuesdays. Brian getting ready for college while Jae left to host another After School Club episode._

_Hosting an episode together._

_Eating pizza together._

_Playing games together._

_Debuting together._

_Shooting music videos together._

_Writing a song together._

_Jae picking their ship name, never expecting that something would actually happen. Brian telling him how much he hates that name, and_ _afterwards sarcastically saying he loves it._

_Talking in their room late at night, Brian on the bottom bunk while Jae was sprawled on a separate bed next to him. Dowoon snoring loudly on the top bunk._

All these memories and more flashed through Jae’s mind in what felt like a long long time, when in reality only 10 seconds passed since Brian pressed his lips against Jae’s.

Jae’s eyes were wide open as he stared at his friend’s face. Brian’s eyes—on the other hand—were closed in concentration. The bassist was so close that Jae thought he could practically count Brian’s eyelashes.

It felt like one of those Korean drama kisses, where people put their lips together and then simply stayed still. A kiss that doesn’t actually happen in real life.

He remembered watching Reply 1997 and chuckling when the female lead was kissed by her childhood friend near a fountain. Brian was sitting with him on the couch while he watched in the dorm, and Jae told him, “Do people even kiss like that here?” Brian only shrugged.

But it was happening to Jae. For at least 10 seconds.

And then Brian slightly tilted his head, deepening the kiss. His hand made it to the back of Jae’s head, pulling him closer. Jae couldn’t be sure of anything in his jumbled up mind, but it felt like Brian was slightly opening his mouth.

Jae’s train of thought was going crazy.

_Ohmygodohmygodohmygod._

_Whatishappening._

_Shitshitshitshitshit._

_Mayday mayday_ _MAYDAY._

But oddly enough, Jae found himself relaxing. The eerie sounds of the haunted house seemed to fade away. The darkness around them didn’t seem so scary anymore. Somehow he felt...safe.

He found his eyes starting to close. He felt his body leaning towards his friend.

And then a blinding light filled the room, and both Brian and Jae instinctively pulled away from each other. Shielding their eyes, they turned towards the source of the light.

In front of them, a hidden door had opened, revealing a bright hallway.

The exit.

They turned away from the light and looked at each other. Jae felt like his face was burning. He hoped it wasn’t as red as he thought it was.

There was a silence until Brian cleared his throat. “Well. There’s the doorway.”

“Uh—yeah,” Jae replied a little late. He didn’t know how to feel. “Shall we go?”

Brian nodded. “Come on.”

And then he took off down the hallway.

Jae ran after him.

 

* * *

 

The amusement park was as loud and colorful as ever.

The long hallway brought them to the exit of the haunted house. Right at the exit, there was a small screen showing changing images. Next to the screen was a sign that read: ** _“Haunted house couple photos: $5”._**

When Jae saw the picture on the screen, his heart banged hard against his chest. “Seriously?”

Brian raised an eyebrow. “Hm.”

It was a picture of them kissing—or Jae being kissed by Brian, to be exact. It seemed that hidden cameras were available inside the haunted house to capture the moment.

Jae saw his own face on the screen. Then Brian’s face. He wanted to run and hide.

“Not a word to the members, okay?” Jae muttered. He turned to look at Brian.

Without looking at him, Brian nodded. “Yeah.”

Another silence.

“You had your eyes open the whole time?” Brian asked casually, his voice curious.

Jae was taken aback by the question. If he was drinking water, he would have spit it out in surprise. Or choked on it. “I didn’t think you’d _actually_ kiss me!”

“You asked me to.”

“Yeah, but...”

Brian smirked. “You confessed your love to me.”

Jae felt like jumping off a cliff. “Bro, I was just scared—”

Brian laughed. “Yeah, man. Yeah.”

“You know I wasn’t being serious.”

“Yeah, yeah.”

They stared at each other for a bit, their eyes dead serious.

 Then they both burst out laughing.

 

* * *

 

 

The members were waiting for them at the entrance of the haunted house.

Sungjin was checking his watch. Dowoon was holding a huge wad of cotton candy and looking like the happiest kid in the universe. Wonpil smiled widely when he spotted Brian and Jae, and raised his arm to wave at them.

“How was it?” Sungjin asked.

“It was okay,” Jae lied.

“Your face is all red,” Wonpil said.

Jae felt like strangling him. “We ran out here. That’s why it’s red.”

Brian coughed and smiled knowingly. Jae glared at him.

Dowoon took a big bite out of the cotton candy and stared at both of them with his big eyes.

Sungjin laughed. “Well, it looks like Dowoon’s ready for more rides. Let’s go.”

And they started to leave to line up for another ride that Dowoon picked. Suddenly Jae stopped in his tracks.

Brian looked over his shoulder. “You okay, Jae?”

“I-I—“ Jae was stammering badly. “I gotta go to the restroom. I’ll catch up with you guys later.”

“All right, then.”

Jae nodded and watched Brian and the members walk away. He made sure that they were out of sight before turning around and dashing off to the haunted house again.

He paid $5 for the photo of him and Brian. He stuffed it in his pocket, just for himself.

Then he joined the others at a Viking ride, where he and Brian screamed their hearts out while clinging onto each other. It was as if nothing happened at the haunted house. As if nothing took place that could have changed the way they felt towards one another.

When it was time to head back to the hotel, Brian told the others that he needed to buy some snacks first.

Little did Jae know, Brian ran back to the haunted house to buy the same photo that Jae currently had stuffed in his pocket.

They had completely forgotten about the bet.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to Just DAY6 on Youtube for the English translation of SuperJunior Kiss the Radio with DAY6, where I quoted the "At first, I was with Sungjin-hyung, Wonpil, and the team......."  part :)
> 
>  
> 
> I hope you all enjoyed the story! ^_^ 
> 
> Feel free to leave a comment and we can scream about jaehyungparkian together :"D
> 
> Have a nice day~


	2. in which Brian tries to act cool but ultimately fails

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everything was NOT okay.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> At first I planned on making this story a one-shot, but then realized that it could still be developed. So here it is! :)
> 
> (and then I planned on making it two chapters but it turned out to be really long. So it'll be three chapters haha).
> 
> Last time we got Jae's POV, now it's time for Brian's.

 

 

“I think Jae’s avoiding me,” Brian said.

Dowoon blinked. “What makes you say that, hyung?”

The maknae’s gaze, which was glued to the cup of noodles in his hand, instantly switched to focus on Brian.

They were back in their shared room at the Day6 dorm, each occupying their respective spots on their bunk bed—Dowoon on the top bunk and Brian on the bottom. The older of the two was lying on his back, staring at the ceiling as if in deep contemplation. Dowoon was leaning against the wall, cup of instant noodles on his lap. Usually his hyung would nag at him whenever he ate such an unhealthy midnight snack, but tonight Brian was unusually quiet.

A few seconds passed until Brian answered. “Well, to start off... Jae isn’t here.”

Dowoon turned to look at the empty bed across from them. Jae’s tall form was nowhere to be seen. “True.”

“He’s been gone for hours,” Brian continued. “It’s already past midnight.”

Dowoon thought about it for a bit. While he did so, he decided to climb down from his bunk and plop himself onto Brian’s bed. It was a magnificent feat considering the cup of noodles in his hand. Finally after settling himself in a comfortable sitting position, Dowoon replied. “I’m sure Jaehyung-hyung knows what he’s doing.”

“And.” Brian sighed.  “Other things happened.”

The drummer blinked. “Such as...?”

Again, Brian was quiet. He replayed the last few days in his head.

 **Three days ago** , he kissed Jae. On the lips. In a haunted house. Afterwards, they pretended as if nothing happened. They even rode a few more rides together, clinging onto each other and screaming together. But on their way back to the hotel, Jae wouldn’t even look at him. Upon reaching their shared room, Jae threw himself onto the nearest empty bed and proceeded to make loud, exaggerated snoring noises. He practically faceplanted into his pillow.

 **Two days ago** , Sungjin encouraged all of the members to spend time at the hotel’s swimming pool. On that day, Jae clambered onto the highest diving board. He nearly shrieked when he saw that Brian had followed him. And when Brian opened his mouth to speak, Jae immediately jumped off the diving board and into the deep waters below.

Brian couldn’t even get his friend’s attention on the flight back to Korea. The second they took their seats, Jae stared intensely outside the plane window. Afterwards he watched the in-flight film, laughing loudly whenever Brian tried to talk to him.

_“This scene isn’t even funny,” Brian said._

_“HAHAHAHAHAHA,” Jae said._

_“You’ve watched this film literally a dozen times,” Brian said._

_“HAHAHAHAHAHAHA,” Jae repeated._

And **one day ago** , they were back in Korea. The band ordered pizza and ate at the dorm. Jae would usually fight over the last piece of pizza, but he surprisingly told the other members that he was full and ran back to his room. When Brian opened the door of their shared room, Jae was already hidden in a cocoon of blankets, snoring loudly.

 **Fast forward to the present day**. Dowoon was looking at him eagerly, and Brian could only sigh.

“I think I might have done something that freaked him out,” the bassist answered carefully.

There was a pause before the maknae answered, “Such as...?”

“Um..." Brian shook his head. “You know what, never mind. I think I’m just overthinking it.”

“Uh, ok.”

“Hey, Dowoonie.” Brian lightly put a hand on Dowoon’s shoulder. “Don’t tell Sungjin-hyung and Wonpil about this conversation, okay?”

“Why not?”

“I don’t want to worry them. I’m just overthinking things.”

Dowoon shrugged, though he didn’t look convinced. “Whatever you say, hyung. But—”

It was then when they heard the muffled sound of Sungjin’s voice outside of their room.

_“Where were you?”_

Dowoon put a hand over his mouth.  “Oh, I think Jaehyung-hyung just came back! Sungjin-hyung sounds furious! He must have stayed up to wait for Jaehyung-hyung.”

Brian nodded absentmindedly. “Yeah.” He wondered if he should open the door of the room so that he could hear better, but decided against it.

“Just taking a walk around the apartment.” It was Jae’s voice. “I can’t sleep.”

“It’s nearly 2 o’clock in the morning, and here you are. What were you doing?” It was Sungjin again. Brian could imagine the angry look on the leader’s face, eyes wide and brows furrowed.

Brian and Dowoon stayed silent while they strained their ears to listen.

“I told you, I was just walking around.”

“You were gone by 8 o’clock. You’ve been gone for _six_ _hours_.”

There was a pause.

“...It was a long walk.”

Sungjin sounded exasperated. “ _A long walk?”_

“Okay, I may have walked around a bit outside.”

“Jae—”

“I won’t do it again.”

Another pause.

“The next time you do this," the leader said, voice tired, "I’m locking you out of the dorm.”

Dowoon let out a tiny laugh. “Sungjin-hyung wouldn’t actually do that.”

“Jae knows that,” Brian replied softly.

“I really wonder what Jaehyung-hyung was doing though.”

“You and me both, Dowoon.”

“Brian-hyung—”

“Wait, shhh. I’m gonna try something.” And with that last word, Brian closed his eyes and pretended to sleep. Two seconds passed before he heard the door of the room open and close.

“Jaehyung-hyung!”

“Hi, Dowoonie." The volume of Jae's voice was considerably low. "Shh, don’t talk so loudly. Hey, give me some of that.”

Brian tried to appear as natural as possible, fighting off the urge to open his eyes. There was a slurping sound as Dowoon fed Jae some of the instant noodles.

“Thanks.”

“You’re welcome, hyung.”

There was another loud and long slurp as Dowoon himself devoured the noodles.

“Why are you still awake? And... uh... why are you on Brian’s bed?”

Dowoon let out a nervous chuckle. “I woke up because I was hungry. And it’s hard to climb onto the top bunk if I’m holding onto something.”

“But I see you climb onto your bunk while holding onto a lot of things before.”

“I also want to see if Brian-hyung will dream about noodles if I eat noodles next to him.”

Brian resisted the urge to smack Dowoon for such a lame excuse.

Jae didn’t sound convinced either. “Er...Okay.”

“Sungjin-hyung sounded angry,” Dowoon said quickly.

“You know how our leader is,” Jae replied, letting out a sigh. “Bob, oh precious Bob. I tried to sneak in without him noticing. He was asleep on the couch and I tried to tiptoe around him. But you know how he is.”

Dowoon nodded. “He’s a very light sleeper.”

“Yeah.” There was a pause. “This guy’s not a light sleeper though, I guess.”

Brian assumed that Jae was talking about him. It was at that moment when the bassist decided to open his eyes and stare dead ahead at Jae.

“Hi,” Brian said calmly, poker face on.

Jae screamed at the top of his lungs.

That was predictable. But what happened next wasn’t.

Obviously surprised, Jae took a couple steps back, still screaming. Then he tripped over his own bed and fell backwards.

There was a soft _bonk_ noise as Jae’s head collided with the floor. The screams stopped.

There was a moment of shock and disbelief as Brian and Dowoon stared at Jae, whose legs were sprawled over his bed, upper half of his body on the floor. It must be hard being so tall.

Brian was the first to speak. He sat up slowly, eyes not moving from his friend’s unmoving figure. “Um... Jae?”

There was no reply.

“Um... Dude, are you pretending to be asleep again?”

Still, no reply.

Brian felt his heart drop. “Oh shit.”

Dowoon shoved his cup of noodles into Brian’s hands. Before the bassist could say anything, Dowoon jumped off the bed, rushing towards Jae and crying out, “Jaehyung-hyung!”

Brian could only stare dumbfounded as the maknae not-so-lightly slapped Jae’s cheek multiple times in an attempt to wake him up. “I, uh, didn’t think he’d react so badly.”

“Jaehyung-hyung!" Dowoon cried. "Wake up, hyung!”

“Is he, uh, really knocked out?”

“Jaehyung-hyung! Jaehyung-hyung!”

“Oh man, what have I done.”

“Jaehyung-hyuuuung!”

The door slammed open.

_”What is going on?”_

It was Sungjin. He stood at the doorframe, fuming. And this time he wasn’t alone.

“Jaehyung-hyuuung!” Wonpil shrieked. He was in his pink pyjamas, messy hair indicating that he had just woken up. He flung himself to Jae’s side, shaking the eldest’s shoulders. “Wake up, hyung!”

“Jaehyung-hyung!” Dowoon wailed.

“Jaehyung-hyung!” Wonpil wailed.

“Oh my gosh oh my gosh oh my gosh,” Brian breathed out.

 _“What.  Happened.”_ Brian looked up to see Sungjin, who was now standing in front of him. He stared at the leader’s big eyes for a few seconds while the two youngest members continued screaming Jae’s name.

“I, uh...” Oh geez, how could he even explain it? Brian cleared his throat. He gripped awkwardly on the cup of noodles still in his hands. “I surprised Jae and he flipped out. Uh, literally and figuratively. He tripped on his bed and hit his head. I think he’s knocked out.”

Sungjin seemed to think carefully while the air was filled with cries of _“Jaehyung-hyung!”._ Then the leader sighed and nodded. He then walked out of the room.

Brian thought that he ultimately screwed up when Sungjin returned with Day6’s manager a few minutes later. Wonpil and Dowoon clamped their mouths shut. Brian himself could only stare at the floor while their manager grabbed Jae by the shoulders and lifted him up. With the help of Sungjin, they both hauled the unconscious guitarist out of the room.

A few more tense and uncomfortable minutes passed while Wonpil clung onto Dowoon ( _“I’m scared, Dowoonie!”_ ) and Brian continued staring at the floor. Then Sungjin returned.

"How is Jaehyung-hyung?" Wonpil asked nervously.

“He’s fine,” the leader said, and everyone in the room let out a sigh of relief. “He’s sleeping on the couch.” He then explained how their manager had informed him that Jae would be awake in a couple of hours. Sungjin then stopped before turning to look at Brian, straight in the eyes. “Be more careful next time, okay?”

Sungjin had many sides to him. He would be hilarious whenever he was being his dorky and silly self. He would be charismatic and charming on stage, strumming away at his guitar while singing.  But when he was being serious after a problem occurred, he could become quite a scary person.

So when Sungjin told him to be more careful, Brian nodded without missing a beat.

The night ended that way, with the leader returning to his room and Wonpil refusing to leave Dowoon’s bed. Brian just stared at the wall, not getting even a second of sleep.

 

* * *

 

Brian wasn’t the type of person to run away from problems. He preferred to face them head on, bravely and determined. Running away would only delay the inevitability of solving them afterwards.

But today was different.

Instead, Brian left the dorm early in the morning. Wonpil and Dowoon were still fast asleep, snuggled against each other. Sungjin was still in his room, and Brian could hear the soft strumming of a guitar from behind the closed door.

Not that he was surprised, but Brian didn’t see Jae anywhere. It didn’t matter. Brian wasn’t trying to look for him anyways. The moment he stepped out of the dorm, he whipped out his phone and dialed a familiar number.

The person on the other end of the receiver picked up after two rings.

_“Yo, wassup.”_

”Bernard,” Brian said. “I, uh—Um.” What should he say? _I kissed Jae and now he won’t talk to me and I accidentally knocked him out last night?_   _Everything is weird between me and Jae and now I’m confused? I don’t know how I feel anymore?_ He could have asked many things. But instead, he blurted out, “Are you free today? Wanna play some video games?”

There was a small pause. Brian felt the blood roaring in his ears. A few seconds felt like years.

Then Bernard answered cheerfully, “Yup! Sure, come on over. I’m so gonna kick your ass.”

Brian smiled. “I doubt it.”

Which is why an hour later, Brian found himself in Bernard Park’s living room, playing video games. They were comfortable on the couch, smashing at their controllers, boxes of pizza and cups of soda strewn all over the table in front of them. They held small conversations in English, trying to distract each other from the game. A wall clock ticked noisily nearby, but the occupants of the room payed no attention to it.

Bernard was kicking his ass.

Well, his avatar’s ass in the video game. Brian tried hard to focus, but he couldn’t. He tried and tried and tried but he just _couldn’t._ Just when he thought he was getting the hang of things, his concentration would slip and Bernard’s avatar would pummel his into the ground.

It was around their third hour of gaming when Bernard paused the screen.

Brian was still furiously pressing a button on his controller when he realized that his avatar wasn’t moving anymore.

“Yo, Brian.”

Dazed, Brian turned to look at his friend. He ceased his furious button pressing.

“Dude, you suck,” Bernard said simply.

Brian said nothing. He didn’t know what to say.

“You don’t usually suck. Well, not this much.”

“I...”

“You okay, bro?”

“I...” Brian shook his head. “I’m fine, Bernard, really.”

“You’re a shitty liar.”

“I am, huh?”

“Totally shitty.”

A small chuckle escaped Brian’s lips. It was just a small chuckle, but more followed. And another. And _another_ , getting louder with each repetition until he was laughing so loudly that Bernard inched away from him on the couch.

“Okay, uh, this isn’t creepy at all. You’re the opposite of okay.”

“Yeah,” Brian wheezed, shaking his head and willing himself to calm down. Finally the laughter ebbed away. He took in a couple of slow, careful breaths. “Sorry, I don’t know what came over me.”

“Now after you freaked me out, mind telling me what’s going on with you?”

“You won’t believe it.”

“Try me.”

Brian wondered if he really should spill out his problems like this. He came to take his mind off of the current problem, not to face it. He chose his words carefully and slowly, telling himself that he could stop if he wanted to. “I got into an...” He paused before continuing. “...awkward situation with one of my bandmates.”

Bernard stared at him. “Hmm... Lemme guess. You didn’t order dinner when Sungjin asked you to? You told Wonpil that his aegyo isn’t cute? You nagged Dowoon too much and he’s annoyed with you? Or did Jae borrow your guitar without telling you again?”

Brian smiled, his eyes still fixed on the paused television screen. “Oh, I wish it was that simple.”

“Is it a problem with Jae?”

Shocked, Brian immediately turned to look at his friend, who looked unfazed. “What makes you say that?”

Bernard shrugged. “Lucky guess.”

“Please don’t be surprised.”

“Again, try me.”

“Seriously, don’t be surprised.”

“Oh, Brian Kang,” Bernard sighed. He reached over the table and grabbed a cup full of soda. He took a sip and smirked, eyes fixed on his friend. “I’ve known Jae for a _preeeetty_ long time. He told me of all the times he fought with you because of this and that. You guys used to hate each other, right? And even after you’ve become buddies, you still have some fights and Jae comes running back to me with the newest story. So whatever you tell me, it won’t shock me.”

Brian gulped. “Did he, uh, tell you what happened when we went overseas a few days ago?”

“Oh. Well he didn’t tell me anything about his trip yet.”

It was now or never.

“Still, I’m sure that it won’t surprise me.” And with that, Bernard took a big sip from his cup.

“I kissed Jae,” Brian said.

Bernard choked violently on his soda.

“Told you,” Brian sighed, watching his friend bend over and cough madly. 

After regaining enough breath, Bernard bellowed, “YOU WHAT?!” His eyes were as huge as Brian has ever seen them. “You—Jae—You mean... on the lips? Or on the cheek? Or—”

“Lips.”

“DUDE, WHAT. DID YOU LOSE A GAME OF SPIN-THE-BOTTLE OR SOMETHING—”

“No, but—”

“DID YOU GUYS GET CAPTURED ON A KISS CAM—”

“No, Bernard—”

“ARE YOU IN LOVE WITH HIM OR SOMETHING.”

“ _What?_ No!” Brian held up his hands, as if to defend himself. “I— I don’t... I don’t know. Shit, it’s all just very confusing right now.”

“DID YOU—” Then Bernard suddenly closed his mouth. He made a loud coughing noise and then leaned heavily against the couch. He put on his serious face. “Okay, I’ve calmed down now. Now tell me what happened.”

Brian would have laughed at Bernard’s comical and sudden change. But he didn’t. Instead, he launched into a recollection of what happened during the past few days. His friend listened to him carefully and intently, only interrupting to ask for certain details. Brian told him about the haunted house, about the riddle that asked them to kiss, about him kissing Jae, about Jae avoiding him since then, and about him accidentally knocking out Jae. It was a messy narration and Brian himself was disappointed with his own storytelling ability, but it would have to do.

“...And now here we are,” he finished. “I didn’t even apologize directly to him. I just wrote a note and put it on the couch when he still slept. Just a small note saying _‘Sorry, bro.’_ ”

“Sorry for what, though?” Bernard asked.

“For surprising him and causing him to trip and fall.”

“Are you sure it’s just that?”

Brian wondered what his friend meant. Then it clicked. “I guess I’m also sorry for kissing him like that.”

“Uh-huh.”

“I even teased him a bit after we left the haunted house.” Brian sighed, running a finger through his hair. “I thought he was cool with it. We even laughed about it. He was the one who asked me to kiss him in the first place. But he’s been avoiding me like I’m the Loch Ness monster or something.”

“Uh-huh.”

“If I knew this would happen, I wouldn’t have done that. I would have just dragged his ass around the freaking haunted house till we found an exit. It was just—It was just a spur of the moment thing. He kept blabbering on about how he was scared and I thought I could calm him down.”

“So you kissed him?” Bernard asked calmly.

“So I kissed him _as per instruction_.”

“Hmm...” Bernard rubbed his chin thoughtfully. “How did you feel though, when you kissed him?”

It was an unexpected question. Brian was glad he wasn’t drinking anything or he would have choked too. “I—uh... Oh, geez.” He thought about it hard, trying to remember how he felt when he pressed his lips against Jae’s. “I didn’t really feel anything, though? I mean, yes, there’s that rush of energy and dizziness that you get when you kiss someone, but—“ He shook his head. “He’s my friend. I just felt a bit... odd?”

“Odd?”

“I dunno, man. My emotions were all mixed up because the haunted house was so loud.”

“Hmm...”

Brian thought about it some more. In that haunted house, he _did_ feel his heart beating fast, blood roaring in his ears. But it was because of the adrenaline of being in a haunted house, not because of... Not because of...

“Only time will tell,” Bernard said, snapping Brian out of his thoughts. “My dear Brian Kang, only time will tell.”

“What do you mean?” Just then, Brian's phone let out a loud _p_ _ing_ noise. He nearly jumped in his seat. He quickly fished out his phone from the pocket of his jeans and opened the newest message. It was from Dowoon:

 

 _Brian-hyung! Hyung! I don’t understand what’s going on_  
_between you and Jaehyung-hyung, but I really hope_  
_you can solve it with Jaehyung-hyung soon! :) Because of that,_  
_I asked Sungjin-hyung and Wonpil-hyung to accompany me on a_  
_movie marathon! So the dorm will be empty  (except for Jaehyung-hyung)_  
_until around 8pm at night!_ _Jaehyung-hyung thinks you’re going home late  
so he won’t be_ _expecting you. Good luck, hyung! ^.^_

 

“Whoa, Dowoonie is the real MPV,” Bernard said after leaning in to read the message. He checked the wall clock. “It’s three p.m. right now. You’ve got five hours. Go, go.”

“Wh-what—?” Brian spluttered.

“What do you mean ‘what’? Get your ass to the dorm now!”

_“N-now?”_

“Are you gonna let Dowoonie’s efforts go to waste? Go, dude!”

Brian felt like faceplanting into a box of pizza. He tried to think of a hundred reasons to avoid this, to avoid facing Jae so soon when everything was so messed up. He just needed a couple days to figure out what to do... What to say...

He would figure something out... Right?

But it only took him a couple seconds to understand. To understand that deep down, he would never _ever_ be ready. He would never be ready to talk to Jae about what happened, about the kiss. About how Brian had felt then, and how he felt now. And finally, he would never be ready to face the conversation that would determine and set the definition of his and Jae’s relationship.

He hated the haunted house for putting them through this in the first place, hated Jae for freaking out and begging for the kiss, and finally, Brian hated himself for giving into the confusion and emotions coursing through him during the heat of the moment.

He dearly missed the days when he and Jae were just two boys, practicing with the band, writing songs together, excited for their debut. They hated each other at first, of course. Hated each other so much that he couldn’t count the amount of times they fought. But they got through it, became friends, and grew closer by the day.

Everything was so simple then. It was sad and hilarious how all of that simplicity vanished in just a few seconds, in a dark and gloomy haunted house.

Brian let out a curse under his breath. Dwelling on the past wasn't going to help him. _Focus on what will happen next_ , he scolded himself.

Escaping from the situation was not an option. He knew he couldn’t run away, no matter how much he wanted to. _Face it head on_ , was his motto. _Face it._

Gathering his determination, he pulled on his best calm face.  Or at least he tried to.

 _Brian Kang, you can do this,_ he told himself.

Finally, he turned to look at Bernard straight in the eyes. “Okay, I’ll go,” he said firmly.

Bernard grinned, full teeth showing. “Attaboy. Go, Brian! _Run, Brian, run!”_

He didn’t need to be told twice. Brian jumped off the couch and practically ran out of Bernard’s front door, hair blowing in the wind.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Run, Brian, run!
> 
> btw, if you guys haven't seen Bernard on Arirang Monday Music Access, you really should. He's HILARIOUS and SO sassy :") Also his segments with Jae are gold.
> 
> I hope you all enjoyed this! ^_^ 
> 
> Feel free to leave a comment and we can scream about jaehyungparkian together :"D
> 
> Have a nice day~


	3. in which both Jae and Brian try to act cool but ultimately fail

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It was time to get serious.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Jae and Brian's cover of Bette Midler's "The Rose" kept playing in my head while I wrote this :")

 

 

It took Brian another hour to reach the dorm. By then, he was gasping for air.  Not just because he ran whenever the situation allowed him to, but also because the closer he got to Jae, the more difficult it became to breathe like a normal human being.

But he didn’t let himself hesitate for even a second. He pulled out the dorm key from his pocket, steadying his fingers so they wouldn’t shake.

He unlocked the door and let it swing open.

“Jae—” he began, then stopped.

The main room was empty.

 _Okay,_ Brian told himself. _Jae is probably in our room or in the bathroom or something. Calm down._

After a moment of consideration, he decided to check the room first. He tried to be as quiet as possible, not wanting to surprise Jae and risk another accident. He even closed the door very, _very_ slowly. Glancing at the clock on the wall, Brian saw that there were still four hours until Dowoon came home with Sungjin and Wonpil.

_Tick tock. Tick tock._

The dorm was so quiet. So unusually quiet. Living in a room with four other boys was not easy and was definitely _not_ the most peaceful way of living. On a normal day he would have appreciated the lack of sound, but now it only made him feel even more nervous.

As he walked, his eyes roamed the main room. The television was turned off, the floor was clear of any random clothes (Sungjin would always nag at them whenever the room was a mess), and a pair of Dowoon’s drumsticks could be seen on the dining table. He continued looking at random and various objects until his eyes landed on something that caused his heart to drop to his stomach.

He was a few meters away from it, but he could see it clearly.

On the black sofa in front of the television, there lay a certain square-shaped object. It was small. Small enough to put in his pocket. He didn’t even need to take a closer look to know what it was, because he already spent hours looking at it, at that certain picture.

It was the photo of him kissing Jae in the haunted house. And he had no idea what it was doing on the sofa.

Brian’s hand automatically made its way to the front left pocket of his jeans. Then to the right pocket. The photo wasn’t there. How? How did it find its way to the sofa? Did it slip out of his pocket when he wrote the note to Jae that morning? Did he accidentally drop it?

Whatever the reason was, he needed to grab and hide it as quickly as he could. He took long strides towards the photo, his hands shaking, heart banging against his chest. He could only hope that Jae hadn’t seen it yet—

“Brian?”

He froze.

_Shit._

Jae was standing in the doorway of their room, hair messy and glasses nowhere to be seen, wearing a simple white t-shirt and shorts that just reached his knees.

Their eyes connected, and Brian wondered if he looked just as horrified as Jae.

“I thought you wouldn’t be home for a few more hours,” Jae continued, voice shaking.

Oh, _now_ Jae was talking to him.

_Shit shit shit._

Brian cleared his throat. “I—” He hoped he didn’t look guilty as he moved a little bit to the left, trying to block the photo from his friend’s view. “I, er, thought I’d go home a little earlier. I’m feeling a little sleepy.”

“Y-yeah.”

“Why don’t _you_ get some sleep first? You were the one that got knocked out last night.”

 _Get your ass back in the room so I can grab this freaking photograph,_ Brian inwardly screamed.

“You look more tired than I do, Brian.”

“Jae, I _insist._ ”

They both stood still, not moving a muscle.

Brian decided he would take the risk. He would have to retrieve the photo as quickly and as inconspicuously as possible. He walked slowly towards the sofa, still facing Jae. “All right, I’ll go sleep,” he said, trying to draw his friend’s attention to the conversation. “I can ask Dowoon to buy some dinner for us.”

“Uh-huh,” Jae said distractedly, suspiciously eyeing Brian’s every movement.

“What do you want to eat?” Brian said, trying to keep his tone as casual as possible. “Pizza?” He took another step closer. It looked like the color drained from Jae’s face. “Chicken?” Then Brian put a hand behind his back, reaching for the photo.

Jae lunged forward.

Brian’s fingers had just wrapped themselves around the photo when his tall friend crashed into him.

“Nooooooo!” Jae wailed as they both fell onto the floor. Brian cursed loudly under his breath, Jae sprawled all over him.

Brian tried to stuff the photo into his pocket, but his friend reacted quickly. Jae’s long arm shot forward, grabbing the bassist by the wrist and using his other hand to grab at the photo.

Brian wouldn’t let him. He got his knee under Jae’s stomach and pushed him off. It worked, somehow. Gasping for breath, Brian attempted to stand up—

And got tackled by Jae again.

They fell onto the floor for the second time that day.

Jae had Brian pinned underneath him, who was thrashing underneath his full weight. Brian was shorter but had a lot more muscle, and Jae was freaking _light_. But no matter how light he was, it was hard to shake him off. His knees were on both sides of Brian’s waist, limiting any movement. None of them had the upper hand.

 _“What the fuck, Jae?”_ Brian yelled, attempting to push Jae off of him with one hand. His other hand protected the photo, clutching it to his chest.

Jae didn’t say anything, but his face showed the look of absolute panic. Again, he was grabbing desperately for the photo, but it was impossible to pry off Brian’s fingers that were wrapped around it. “Let go,” he finally said, voice pleading. “Let go.”

“No—” Brian gritted his teeth. He stretched his hand above his head as much as he could, away from Jae’s reach. _Why is Jae freaking out so much? Did he already see the photo?_

It was a dumb move. Jae had longer arms and used them to his advantage. Soon Brian found both of Jae’s hands clamped around his own, trying to unravel the mess of fingers that held the photo.

 _You’re stronger than him,_ Brian told himself. _Don’t let go. Don’t let go and everything will be okay._

“Let go, Brian, please!”

_Okay, I’m bullshitting myself. How can this be okay, how do I even get out of this, how do I—_

“OKAY BRIAN, I’M SORRY. I BOUGHT THE PHOTO, I’M SORRY.”

_Wait... what?_

Brian’s iron grip on the photo slackened a bit as he stared at his friend hovering above him.

_What?_

“I bought the photo from the haunted house!” Jae bawled, his cheeks red, pure guilt in his eyes. “I don’t know what came over me but I just _had_ to! I’m sorry, dude, I’m sorry!”

“What...?” This time Brian said it out loud.

Jae continued, the volume of his voice getting higher and higher with each sentence. “Of course I didn’t plan on telling you. It was just for myself. I thought of throwing it away many times but I couldn’t. I swear I bought it on pure impulse. I _swear._ I accidentally left it on the sofa. You must think I’m such a fucking _creep_ right now—”

“This... This isn’t mine...?”

Now it was Jae’s turn to freeze. “Wh... What do you mean this isn’t yours?”

They stared at each other, confusion painted all over their faces.

A couple of seconds passed before the realization came crashing down on Brian.

 _Oh,_ he thought.

And then.

 _OHHHHHHHHHHHHH,_ he screamed in his mind. _WHAT THE F—_

“Brian, don’t tell me you bought one too?”

_—UUUUUUUUUCK._

“I,” Brian stuttered. “I— Well, yes.”

So. They both bought the photo. Brian tried to wrap his head around the surprising fact, and it seemed like Jae was doing the same. The tallest of them shook his head, disbelief clearly on his face. Then he finally released Brian’s wrist.

“What the hell,” Jae muttered under his breath, finally rolling off of his friend. He did so until they were both lying side to side. “What the hell.”

Jae’s weight finally gone from his chest, Brian coughed and gulped in as much air as he could. Jae’s arm had been on his windpipe. He coughed and coughed until he finally got a hold of himself. Then he turned to look at Jae, whose face was just a couple inches away from his.

Jae wasn’t looking at him, though. His eyes were fixed on the ceiling.

Brian decided to do the same. He looked up, mind churning.

They could hear the sound of the wall clock filling in the silence.

_Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock._

“Jae.”

_Tick._

“Yeah, Brian?”

_Tock._

“What happened to us?”

_Tick. Tock._

“I dunno, Brian. A lot of things.”

“Hm. That’s very specific.”

“I dunno, man.” Jae sounded tired. “I thought it was nothing at first. You know. You kissing me and all that.” He cleared his throat, clearly feeling awkward to finally touch the subject of their moment in the haunted house. “I was the one who asked you for it in the first place. After that we acted as if nothing happened.”

“Yeah, you clung onto me pretty tightly on the Viking ride,” Brian commented.

Jae let out a small, soft laugh. Brian never knew how much he missed hearing it. “Yeah, I did, didn’t I?”

The bassist grinned. “Yeah.”

Then the laugh was gone again as Jae continued. “I really thought I could pretend as if nothing happened. Trust me, I really did. But then when we were in the car to head back to the hotel. And... the farther away we got from that amusement park, the more I thought about it. And the more I thought about it, the more I realized that I could _not_ pretend as if nothing happened.”

Brian stayed silent.

“And by the time we reached the hotel, I felt that I couldn’t even look at you anymore. If I looked at you, I’d feel all weird again.  I don’t really know how to define this ‘weird’ feeling, but it just made me uncomfortable, you know?” Jae paused as he seemed to realize how his words sounded. “N-no, it’s not the feeling of falling in love or anything, dude, really! It’s just... weird. Shit, how do I explain this...”

Brian wanted so badly to look at Jae’s face. But from the corner of his eye, he could see that Jae’s gaze was still fixed on the ceiling.

“It was so comfortable being your friend. Your bro. But after the haunted house, it felt like something could get in the way of that comfort. Do you get what I mean?”

Brian thought about it. He slowly nodded. _It sounds like you’re afraid of the possibility of falling in love with me or something_ , he wanted to say.

But instead, he replied, “I think I get the gist of it.”

“I like us being bros,” Jae said hurriedly.

“Yeah.”

“I’m sorry, I just—”

“Jae, _calm down_.” Brian’s tone was firm, causing Jae to close his mouth in a heartbeat. The younger of the two sighed, shaking his head. “I kissed you because you asked me to, so that you would stop freaking out, so that we could quickly get the fuck out of that haunted house.” Now he was looking at Jae, and Jae was looking at him. Brian couldn’t read his friend’s face. It was a mixture of emotions that he couldn’t quite pinpoint but... Jae looked a little... vulnerable? “I didn’t kiss you because I was in love with you or anything,” he finished. “So why are you so worried?”

Jae didn’t answer him. He just kept staring, unblinking.

Brian let out another sigh. “I really thought we both could look at it as nothing. It was just an action done to get out of a haunted house in an amusement park. A lot of crazy things happen in amusement parks. We were both chill with it. I even teased you for a bit. It could have been something to even laugh about in the future. But it turns out you didn’t think it was nothing. You started avoiding me. It was funny at first, but then you kept on doing it. And it wasn’t so funny anymore.” He paused. “It should have been nothing.”

It felt like minutes passed for the words to sink in. Jae had returned his gaze the ceiling, and Brian wanted to say _‘See you’re even avoiding me now’_ , but he kept his mouth shut.

Finally Jae turned to look at him straight in the eyes again. But it wasn’t determination that Brian saw on his face. It was uncertainty. “Can we...?” Jae began.

Brian waited.

“Can we pretend that I never avoided you? That I never freaked out or anything?” Jae seemed to gain a little bit of confidence with every word. “Let’s pretend that I was chill about it the entire time. It really should have been nothing. Let’s... Let’s go back to normal, to how we used to be.”

_To how we used to be._

“Yeah,” Brian said, without a moment’s hesitation. “Let’s.” Then he grinned, though he felt a bit strange. “There we go. Thanks, Jae.”

Jae smiled, relief evident on his face. “Yup. Thanks, man.” Then he stared at the ceiling again, and Brian did the same, both of them smiling contently.

Seconds passed.

“Brian.”

“Yeah, Jae?”

“I wanna try something.”

“Hm? Try what?”

“Something. I just wanna make sure. Wanna make sure it’s really nothing.”

Brian was taken aback by the determination in Jae’s voice. The bassist furrowed his brow as he stared at the lights on the ceiling. “Try what?”

“Just be quiet.”

“Huh—?”

Then he felt soft hands cup his face, and Brian’s words were cut off when he realized that Jae was on top of him again. He opened his mouth to ask what the hell was going on—

—when he suddenly felt Jae’s lips against his, and the question died in his throat.

The kiss was so sudden (and not so gentle) that Brian instinctively shut his eyes. 

He couldn’t think. He didn’t know what to feel. It was as if all of the emotions that was possible for a human being to have were churning in one huge cauldron, producing the final concoction that was Brian’s messy feelings in that one single moment.

Just when his mind was processing the fact that his close friend was kissing him (and how he should respond to it), it ended.

Jae pulled away, and Brian opened his eyes to see his friend’s face still hovering above his.

A few seconds passed while they just stared at each other, unmoving.

“See?” Jae said. Then he smiled. “Confirmed. It really is nothing.”

“Yeah,” Brian said, trying to keep his voice steady. He wondered what his face looked like. What kind of expression he had on because he could barely feel his face. “Confirmed.”

Jae’s smile grew wider. Then for the second time that day, he rolled off of Brian and they lay side by side once more. “Confirmed,” he said, one last time. He then let out a sigh and closed his eyes. “I feel so relieved now.”

Brian nodded. “Me too,” he lied. He stared at his friend’s calm face. It looked like Jae could have fallen asleep right there.

No wait, it wasn’t _that_ calm. When observed closely, Brian could see— very faintly but surely— the hint of pink on Jae’s face.

 _Looks like you’re blushing_ , Brian wanted to say. But he decided against saying anything. Not when things seemed like they were finally going back to normal.

_It sounds like you’re afraid of the **possibility** of falling in love._

Brian had mentally said that to his friend a few minutes ago. But now, as Jae lay peacefully beside him, he wondered if it applied to himself as well.

_Tick tock tick tock._

After years of lyric writing for Day6’s songs, Brian had developed a sort of knack for poetry. As cheesy as it sounded, at that moment, he wondered if his relationship with Jae was like the clock hanging on the wall.  The clock: running on batteries to activate its gears, ticking by at a slow but steady pace.

What happened in the haunted house seemed to have set the gears into motion of whatever relationship he was going to have with Jae. Perhaps they would always remain friends. Perhaps more. Perhaps the haunted house simply accelerated whatever would have inevitably happen. Or perhaps it was all thanks to the haunted house that the _possibility_ of them being more than friends appeared. Without it, perhaps they never would have considered more than a close friendship between them.

He didn’t know. But what he knew with certainty was that they couldn’t go back. At least not him.

 _“My dear Brian Kang, only time will tell,”_ Bernard had said. And Brian now understood. Or at least a little.

 _What’s going on in Jae’s mind?_ Brian wondered. He wanted to try to read his friend’s face. Wanted to see if he could get any more clues. But when he turned his head to examine the person laying next to him, he saw that Jae had really fallen asleep.

“Idiot,” Brian muttered. He couldn’t help but smile. “Park Jaehyung, you idiot.” Brian’s then felt his left hand hurting, and it was then that he realized that he was still holding onto Jae's haunted house photo. He shook his head in disbelief. The photo was all crumpled up now. He tried to straighten it, but knew that the wrinkles wouldn’t disappear no matter how hard he tried.

He stared at his and Jae’s faces in the photo. _What will happen next_? he thought. _Should I be scared? Or should I be excited? Or both?_

Minutes passed when he decided to send a message to Dowoon. A huge thank you message. He reached into the back pocket of his jeans—

—and found _his_ haunted house photo in said pocket, tucked next to his phone. In his panic upon discovering the photo on the sofa, he didn’t even check his back pockets.

He groaned inwardly. “Brian Kang,” he muttered to himself. “You idiot.”

Jae snored in agreement.

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks so much for reading till the end! ^_^ 
> 
>  
> 
> Feel free to leave a comment and we can scream about jaehyungparkian together :"D
> 
>  I honestly thought I'd end the story here, but... some ideas are popping up in my head. I think I _might_ continue it :) We'll see!
> 
> ___________________________________
> 
> bonus:  
> (because why not)
> 
>  [Jae and Brian's cover of Bette Midler's "The Rose"](https://youtu.be/EkrPUT_Jbms?t=5s)
> 
>  
> 
> Lyrics:
> 
> Some say love, it is a river  
> That drowns the tender reed.  
> Some say love, it is a razor  
> That leaves your soul to bleed.
> 
> Some say love, it is a hunger,  
> An endless aching need.  
> I say love, it is a flower,  
> And you, baby, its only seed.
> 
> When the night has been too lonely  
> And the road has been too long,  
> And you think that love is only  
> For the lucky and the strong.
> 
> Just remember in the winter  
> Far beneath the bitter snows  
> Lies the seed that with the sun's love  
> In the spring becomes the rose.


	4. two years

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A lot happens in two years.

Hi, guys.

Sorry, this isn't a new chapter. This is me wanting to say HAPPY SECOND ANNIVERSARY, DAY6!!!! *throws confetti and cake*

 

 

**Also I made a video tribute thing. Day6 from predebut till now:**

clicky clicky **\-- > [「TWO YEARS WITH DAY6」](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gocn4h-Bs18)**

 

LET'S CELEBRATE, MY DAYS! RISE, MY DAYS AND DAY6, RISE!! :)

 

 

* * *

 

Okay, but to the story Haunted House.

I can't promise when, but I _promise_ that there will be an update and I will definitely finish this story. There's no way I'd leave Jae and Brian hanging like this :) I'm working hard on the next chapter! I hope you guys will like it ^_^

 

Oh, and I might start a new series based on the "What Can I Do" and "I Loved You" music videos. Sound like a good idea? :"D

 

Bless Day6. Bless My Days. Bless you all. Bless bless.

 


	5. in which Jae starts to (finally) realize something

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The story finally continues :) Sorry it took so long :")

 

 

Seasons passed. It was as if someone had pressed a fast forward button on their lives. Time just simply zipped by so quickly.

Or maybe it was their hectic schedules that gave off that impression. Jae wasn’t sure. But before he knew it, autumn had arrived. If he looked out the dorm window, he could see the trees with their warm autumn colors.

The seasons were changing, but he wasn’t. He stayed the same— the same Park Jaehyung that everyone knew.

Or did he?

 

 

 

Brian stayed the same. Jae was sure of that. Months had passed since the day they were laying on the dorm floor, staring at the ceiling. The day that Jae had set the definition of their relationship—

_Friends._

That’s what they were. Friends. Friends who became awkward after an incident in a haunted house. Friends whose awkwardness went away after one had informed the other that it was all nothing, and to pretend that it all never happened.

And that was what they did. They pretended that it never happened. Jae had convinced himself that the weird clenching feeling on his heart was gone, gone forever. He assumed that Brian felt the same.

So they continued. They continued their lives in that sweet, comfortable, and safe bubble of friendship. Jae could throw an arm around the younger man’s shoulders without feeling weird. He could stay in one room alone with that same person, without having to fear that his heart was beating too loudly. They did their usual day-to-day activities— practicing, performing, eating, sleeping, playing, producing, and things that the normal Jae and Brian would do.

Everything was back to normal. And Jae was happy with it.

Or at least that was what he thought.

 

 

* * *

 

 

_Jae might have frozen that metaphorical clock that Brian had imagined— might have broken it, even. But it was slowly fixing itself. Soon it would tick, slowly and unsurely. But it would surely begin to move. One tick. Two ticks. And it would keep going, completing a full circle across the clock’s face._

_And the hands of that clock would continue, gliding easily. Around and around and around._

 

 

* * *

There were moments when Jae doubted himself.

Amidst what should have been their normal, usual lives, there were moments where his heart would skip a beat. Where, for a few seconds, he would suddenly forget how to properly breathe.

Moments like those weren’t big or grand in any way. On the contrary, they were subtle and small. Moments such as those should have been brushed off easily as nothing.

They were moments when Jae would catch Brian’s eye from across the stage, and the bassist would grin at him before singing into the microphone. Moments when they would stay up till the wee hours of the morning in their room, chatting quietly as Dowoon slept soundly in the bunk above. Moments when they would be working on a song for hours, their fingers sore from strumming and plucking at guitar strings, and Brian would let out a tired laugh and ask Jae what time it was.

Just small, subtle moments. It was moments like those when Jae would feel strange. As if he was missing something. Something that should have been obvious yet he refused to even acknowledge it.

It was a strange feeling that told him that the kiss he had given to Brian— all those months ago— actually meant _something._ He had previously convinced himself that he felt nothing. Nothing at all. _We’re friends, and I just kissed you to prove that I feel nothing more than friendship towards you. See? Nothing. I feel nothing._

But another small, subtle moment would come. Brian would look at him with that same, bright smile on his face, and Jae would suddenly find it difficult to breathe, doubt emerging yet again.

And he would try hard to convince himself (all over again) that it was nothing.

Doubt. Convince. Doubt. Convince. Repeat.

Repeat.

It was an endless repeat. A repetition.

It was an endless repetition that Jae continued to live with. But he endured. Believing that the repetition would just become a familiar habit, he tried hard to get used to it.

 

 

 

 

He never got used to it.

 

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

It was 11 o’clock at night and the dorm’s occupants were asleep.

Everyone except Jae.

His tall body taking up the whole couch, Jae aggressively pressed the buttons of the new game console that he finally managed to buy. Dowoon had borrowed it throughout the whole day (the oldest member couldn’t help but let him. One does not simply say no to Yoon Dowoon’s puppy eyes), so Jae was determined to at least beat the maknae’s latest high score.

The familiar sound of a key turning in the front door’s knob caught his attention. He quickly paused the game and sat up.

The door slowly swung open and a very tired-looking Brian walked in. He seemed to stagger in his steps until he saw Jae sitting on the couch. Then he pulled on a small smile and began to walk more firmly.

“Yo,” Jae said, not moving from his seat. “Where were you?”

“Studio,” Brian answered. He was wearing a thick jacket, but he rubbed his hands together for warmth. “Sudden inspiration struck and I just had to write it all down before it disappeared. I told Sungjin I was coming home late.”

“I see.”

The bassist stood in front of the door of their shared room, hand hovering over the doorknob. “Is Dowoonie asleep?”

“Everyone’s asleep.”

“Ah.” Brian dropped his hand. “I wouldn’t want to wake him up.”

“He’ll wake up anyways when I get in. That door’s creaky as hell.”

“Which is why I’ll wait for you to open it first.” The younger of the two grinned. “You’ll be the one that wakes him up and feel the maknae wrath.”

“Fuck you.”

Brian laughed. Jae tried to ignore it— that subtle, strange feeling.

The feeling disappeared when a sudden growl rang across the room. It was so loud that Jae thought it’d wake up the whole apartment.

Brian’s face grew redder by the second. “That wasn’t me,” he declared. Betraying him, his stomach let out another desperate growl.

Jae rolled his eyes. “You’re hungry. Come here. I’ll fix you something.” He wasn’t exactly the best cook in the world, but he could easily make his friend’s self-claimed ‘soul food’.

Ten seconds later and Brian was seated at the table, eagerly holding onto a pair of chopsticks. “So what’s on the menu tonight, Chef Park?”

“Ramen,” the older said simply, rummaging through the cabinets in their small kitchen and grabbing a cup of instant noodles. “5-star ramen.”

Brian threw his hands up in exaggerated joy. “Yay!”

Jae couldn’t help but let a small smile spread across his face. Pouring hot water from the dorm’s dispenser into the cup, he began to hum.

“What’s that?” Brian asked.

“Hm?”

“The song you’re humming.”

“Ah.” Jae added the ingredients, watching the mess of unhealthiness becoming one. He needed to make sure Brian didn’t eat anymore of this for the whole week. “A guitar solo I’m working on.”

“Sounds great so far.”

“Why, thank you.”

The older took a seat next to his friend, setting the cup of ramen on the table. While waiting for the noodles to soften, they chatted in low, quiet voices.

“So how’s the song you’re working on?”

“Hmm,” Brian mumbled, thinking for a bit. “I got all the lyrics and melody down. Might need a lot of revision though.”

Jae would always be amazed by how quickly his friend worked. “We could go to the studio later and do some intense composing.”

The younger grinned. “Sounds like a plan.”

Two minutes later and Brian was bent over the cup in front of him, slurping noodles.

Jae could hear the wall clock ticking faintly in the background. Wondering what time it was, he found himself staring at his friend more than he should have.

It was nice, really, moments like these. Everything was so calm and he happily basked in that calmness.

Suddenly, Brian held out the chopsticks to him. A wad of noodles hung from it. “Here, have some.”

Jae blinked. “What? Nah, bro, it’s for you.”

“Come on, I’ll feel like an ungrateful dick if I eat it by myself.”

“All right, all right.”

Growing up in the States, Jae wasn’t that fond of skinship or the showing of affection between guys. It was quite a culture shock for when he began living in Korea. He soon got used to seeing other people’s public displays of affection, but never actually initiated it himself or was on the receiving end. It wasn’t as if his members were especially touchy of each other, either. Sungjin avoided skinship as if it was the plague. Brian would shower _only_ Dowoon with affection, but then again, _everyone_ in the band showered Dowoon with affection. Especially Wonpil. How many times did Jae walk in on Wonpil cuddling with Dowoon in the maknae’s bed?

(Jae, on the other hand, would stare with laser eyes at Wonpil whenever the younger would randomly run up to him and kiss him on the cheek.)

So when Brian offered to spoonfeed him, Jae should have hesitated.

But he didn’t.

Instead, he leaned forwards, lips closing around the chopsticks and sucking in the noodles in mere seconds. With a satisfied smile, he leaned back against the chair and chewed with gusto.

_So maybe he was just really hungry. Or too sleepy to think._

He didn’t expect Brian’s face to turn a light shade of pink.

“So yeah,” the younger of the two mumbled, eyes a little wide as if in surprise. “Tomorrow. Intense song composing. Yeah.”

“Yeah,” Jae replied.

Brian suddenly got up and fetched himself a glass of water. He sat down again, drinking feverishly.

“I like quiet moments like this,” Jae said, glancing around the empty dorm. “Everything is usually loud and noisy— Well, I contribute a lot to that noise, but still—” He paused. “It’s just nice.”

Brian nodded, still gulping down water.

If Jae could slap himself for saying what he said next, he would. “It’s like we’re parents chatting quietly at night while the whole house is asleep.”

_What the fuck, Jae? What the actual fuck?_

While Jae was busy cursing and bitchslapping himself in his mind, Brian choked. The younger bent over, coughing and trying to stay cool at the same time.

A couple moments passed for them to both calm down. Brian set down his glass and resumed his ramen-eating as if nothing happened. “But,” he said between bites. “Isn’t Sungjin, like, our dad?”

“I guess he could be the cranky grandpa,” Jae said with a snicker, somehow having recovered himself as well. “The cranky grandpa that keeps scolding his grandkids.”

Brian laughed. He shook his head in disbelief. “Geez.”

Suddenly another voice joined them. A familiar, deep voice across the room.

_“Hyuuuuung.”_

They both jumped in their seats and turned around to see a sleepy Yoon Dowoon walking towards them. The maknae was wiping an eye with the sleeve of his shirt, letting out a small yawn.

“And here’s our youngest kid,” Brian muttered, earning another crazy giggle from Jae. “What’s wrong, Dowoonie? Did we wake you up?”

“I smelled ramen,” Dowoon answered. “And then my stomach started growling.”

Brian pouted his lips. “Oh, my poor baby.” He held out his hands to the maknae. “Here, sit on my lap. There’s still some left.”

And that’s how the night ended— with Dowoon slurping noodles in front of the table, his full weight on Brian’s lap, the older’s arms wrapped around his body. And there was Jae, watching the sight with a warm smile on his face.

 _Yup,_ Jae confirmed. _Quiet moments like these are so, very nice._

 

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

Weeks passed when Brian failed to return early to the dorm again.

_Again._

Jae glanced at his watch. It was well past midnight. Brian had informed them in the Day6 group chat that he was going home late.

But this was a _little_ too late for Jae’s liking. So he decided to throw on his winter jacket and make his way to the JYP building (after waking up a sleepy Park Sungjin and telling the leader where he was going).

Snow crunched under Jae’s feet as he walked the nearly empty streets. A cold wind blew at his body and he wondered if he should have worn thicker clothes. He didn’t do much thinking before leaving the dorm.

He saw his breath hanging in the air, coming out in small puffs, glowing in the light of the streetlamps. _Was Brian cold as well? Was the heater turned on well in whatever room he was in?_

Jae shook his head. Since when did he worry so much for the younger member?

 

 

 

He wasn’t surprised to see Brian fast asleep in the studio. That kid could literally fall asleep _anywhere._

Still seated in front of the computer, Brian used his arms as a pillow on the table, eyes closed and breathing steady.

The oldest Day6 member walked up to him, quietly making sure to shut the door quietly before doing so.  The closer he got to his friend, the more objects he could see surrounding Brian.

Sheets and sheets of paper, strewn all over the wooden table. Words were scrawled across the sheets, some scratched out and some circled.

A pencil lay close to Brian’s fingers— probably the result of him falling asleep mid-sentence. Under the pencil was another piece of paper, tucked comfortably underneath the bassist’s hands.

Curious and amused, Jae carefully pulled at the paper until he had completely freed it.  He read it over, paying attention to every letter.

The room’s heater was turned on at the right temperature. And yet…

Jae felt cold. And it wasn’t the effect of just escaping the freezing weather outside. But it was because once again, Brian had written another sad song.

It wasn’t something new. Brian had always written sad songs, switching in between upbeat and happy ones as well. But lately, he had been writing more and more depressing lyrics. Lyrics that hurt and were raw with emotion.

Of course, they were well written. Brian was an amazing song writer, Jae had admitted many times. But aside from the aesthetics of the words, Jae couldn’t help but wonder what was going on in Brian’s mind when he wrote them.

And this… this paper that he held now in his hands was conveying another story of a broken-hearted man.

It was painful, really. Somehow, the lyrics really got to Jae. What was going on?

He could only sigh and glance at his sleeping friend. “What past relationships did you go through to write this?” Jae muttered under his breath, sure that his voice fell on deaf ears. “Who broke your heart?” A pause. “If it was me… I wouldn’t have broken your heart like that.”

 _I would have taken good care of you,_ he almost continued, but quickly stopped himself. For a few seconds, he stood there, shocked at his own words.

Finally overcoming the shock, Jae slowly and carefully lifted Brian’s fingers to slip the paper underneath them again. The younger’s hand was warm underneath his own. Jae furrowed his brow, wondering if his friend was sick. Brian was wearing a thick, wool sweater so he should have been protected from the cold…

Jae should have woken him up. It was so late at night and they should be heading back to the dorm soon. Plus, Brian’s sleeping position looked incredibly uncomfortable.

But he couldn’t help but notice how _peaceful_ Brian looked. It looked as if the bassist had become younger, all traces of stress and worry gone from his face. He just looked really, _really_ calm and Jae didn’t have the heart to wake him up.

So the older of the two grabbed onto a nearby chair and set it beside Brian’s seat. After sending a quick text to Sungjin that he was staying the night at the studio, Jae let his head rest on the table, also using his arms as a pillow.

For a while, he watched Brian sleep. Then he felt his eyes flutter shut, and soon Jae was dozing off in his own dreamland.

 

 

 

Minutes passed when Brian slowly opened his eyes. His sleeping friend’s face only a few inches in front of him, he listened to the faint sound of the clock ticking.

He had already woken up the second that Jae entered the room.

 

 

* * *

 

 

The world a blurry mess in his eyes, Jae pulled the blanket over his chin.

He rolled over to his side, groaning.

What weird fate was it that Jae was the one that got sick?

He was alone in the room, sprawled over his own bed, and trying to ignore the insane headache and the fact that he was sweating like crazy. He shut his eyes, willing the pain to go away. At least he was sick on a schedule-free day. There was at least some comfort in that.

The door slowly opened. He heard the sound of footsteps and before he knew it, Brian was sitting next to him on the floor.

“Yo, Jae, you need to eat.”

“Uuuughhh.”

“Sit up, would you?”

“I said ugghhh.”

“Dude, I made soup for you and this is the thanks I get?”

Jae’s eyes flew open. “You what?”

“Soup. Homemade. By me. For you.”

“Is it edible?”

“Would you rather have Wonpil cook for you?”

“You have a point there.”

Brian helped him sit up. Jae tried to ignore the slight vertigo and finally focused on his friend.

Holding a big white bowl, the younger had a concerned expression on his face. “You should have worn thicker clothes last night.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Jae replied, his voice weak. “It was a spur of the moment thing. Didn’t really think about it. You’re the idiot that fell asleep in the studio.”

“Well, I didn’t expect another idiot to come and fall asleep next to me.”

Jae didn’t know how to reply to that. Lately, he didn’t know why he did the things he did. That was just how he was.

Brian continued. “When I woke up, you were already burning. It felt like a freaking furnace was in front of me.”

“Yeah.”

“I had to drag your sorry ass back to the dorm.”

“Yeah, yeah. Sorry, man.”

“Now eat the damn soup.”

“Such nice bedside manner,” Jae said with a small smirk. Brian rolled his eyes.

With shaky hands, the older tried and failed at least a dozen times to feed himself. Brian finally grabbed the spoon after Jae had dropped it _again._

“I can eat by myself—”

“No, you can’t," Brian replied nonchalantly. "Now say _‘aah’_.”

“Bro.”

“The sooner you finish, the sooner you can go back to sleep.”

Once again, Brian had a point. Setting his pride aside, Jae let his friend spoonfeed him until he had emptied the entire bowl. The soup wasn’t bad, nor was it particularly good. Or maybe his taste buds were just messed up because of the fever.

Either way, he was done and eager to hit the sheets again. So he let himself fall back on the bed with a light _thud_ , closing his eyes almost instantly.

Without a word, Brian threw the blanket over him.

Jae’s voice was still weak as he commented, “Chef Kang gets ten points.” Grinning, he gratefully tucked one end of the blanket under his chin.

“Oh, wow. What an honor.”

Since when did Brian’s sarcasm become so comforting? Jae just shrugged it off and nuzzled deeper into the sheets.

Just as the younger was about to leave the room, Jae spoke again.

“Thanks, Brian.”

Jae's eyes were closed so he didn’t see the other person’s reaction. But the voice that answered was soft, and had a tad touch of fondness.

“You’re welcome.”

 

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

 

More weeks passed by.

The snow melted. Spring arrived, just like that.

Subtle moments continued to occur, one by one.

_Doubt. Convince. Doubt. Convince. Repeat._

_Repeat._

_It was an endless repeat._

Jae wondered for how much longer he could continue to convince himself. How much longer he would endure the repetition.

He tried to, though. To endure. The truth was too scary for him to grasp.

Because really— how could he admit it? How could he put years of friendship in danger, and years of friendship that were to come?

How could he?

_The metaphorical clock continued to tick._

How could he be in love with his own friend?

_Tick._

With his own band member?

_Tock._

With his own roommate?

_Tick._

With…

 

The epiphany crashed over Jae like violent waves. It shook him to the core. But this time, instead of struggling to desperately hang on, he let himself be swept away.

 

...With Brian Kang?

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TOOK YOU LONG ENOUGH, JAE.
> 
> I promise that the next and last chapter (the last one for real, this time!) will be up soon ^_^ 
> 
> Feel free to leave a comment and we can scream about jaehyungparkian together :"D
> 
> Thanks for reading ❤


	6. in which Jae and Brian finally come to a conclusion

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aaaand here's the last chapter (yes, for real this time)

 

 

Spring would soon come to an end.

They were back in that haunted house again. Back at that one place where it all began.

This time the band was there for a vacation. Just a nice, simple vacation to freshen their minds after months of busy schedules. And what better way to freshen minds than to visit an amusement park?

And to top it all off, the same amusement park that they had visited the year before?

Jae had asked (read: begged) Brian to accompany him to the haunted house attraction. The latter had looked at him, confused and doubtful. But after Dowoon dragged off Sungjin and Wonpil to buy more snacks, Brian really had no choice but to follow Jae.

And here they were again. With the familiar screams around them. The familiar darkness. The familiar everything.

Jae felt his own heart pounding against his chest, and he willed it to _calm the fuck down._ Holy shit, he was actually going to do this.

The haunted house no longer evoked any fear from him. The ghosts with their bloody faces weren’t terrifying at all. The blood-curdling screams weren’t scary in the slightest.

Because confessing to the person he liked was far scarier than anything.

Speaking of the person…

Jae glanced to his left. Brian looked nonchalant as another ghost shrieked in his face. In fact, the bassist actually looked bored.

This time, Jae wasn’t clinging onto his friend. He didn’t need to this time. He didn’t even scream either, though he slightly flinched at the sudden shrieking. _Reflexes_ , he told himself. _Chill._

The ghost made a huffing noise and slithered away.

“The jump scares are still the same,” Brian said. He continued walking as if nothing happened. “I can’t believe I actually remember it all.”

“I wouldn’t know,” Jae replied, trying to keep his voice steady. Their footsteps echoed down the long hallway. “When we went here before, I had my eyes closed the whole time.”

“Not the whole time,” Brian mumbled. “Not during what was most important.”

Jae nearly tripped over his own feet. _Did Brian just—?_

He stared at his shorter friend, who looked back at him straight in the eye.

_What was most important. He’s actually talking about what happened last year. When Brian kissed me and my eyes were open like an idiot. An idiot. A complete and utter idiot._

Jae opened his mouth to speak.

But something came over Brian, and he suddenly looked apologetic. “Sorry. I shouldn’t have said that.”

 _Don’t say sorry,_ Jae wanted to say.

Brian continued. “We promised not to talk about what happened here, but here I am running my mouth.”

_Fuck the promise._

“Pretend I didn’t say anything. That was dumb of me.”

_No, I’m the dumb one._

“Let’s just hurry up and get out of here.”

Finally, Jae blurted out, “Brian, wait!”

The younger halted in his tracks. He glanced over his shoulder, locking eyes with his friend again. “Yeah?”

Jae stood still, feeling more determined than ever. He was sure his heart was beating loud enough for the both of them to hear. “I’ll lead the way,” he said, and he was thankful of how firm his voice was.

Brian smirked. “What came over you? When did you suddenly get so brave?”

“Let’s just hope I’m as brave as you think,” Jae muttered, and he began walking again, faster this time. Brian let out an amused whistle and followed him.

Soon they were back in that room. The weird, eerie room with the trees and the grass and the _statue._

_The statue._

The heart-shaped statue with the words engraved upon it, standing tall at the place where he remembered it to be. The words that he would never forget:

 

_“A KISS SHALL LEAD YOU OUT OF THE DARKNESS.”_

Holy fuck, he was so scared. But he planted one foot in front of the other until he stood firmly in front of that certain statue. Wordlessly, Brian joined him by his side.

They stared at the glowing words for what seemed like forever.

Everything was so silent. No sound of ghosts. No weird chain-clanking noises. Just the two young men standing side by side.

Jae glanced at his friend. Brian had the most unreadable expression on his face.

Then there was a slight change as Brian looked away, eyes focusing on the floor.

What was it? Did Jae imagine it? Or was there actually hurt written across the bassist’s features?

Jae didn’t like it. He didn’t like it when Brian had that look on his face. Didn’t like it when Brian was hurt. He wanted to take that hurt and throw it away as far as he could.

It was risky. Brian might not feel the same way towards him. The feelings that took Jae months to figure out may not be reciprocated. He could be walking out of the haunted house with his heart broken. And he knew that. He knew that very well.

But he would take the chance. And this was the place where he was going to do it. No more doubts, no more regrets. This was now.

Taking a deep breath, he turned to his friend.

“Brian.”

The younger of the two looked up, letting their eyes meet again.

 Silent. Everything was so silent.

“Yeah, Jae?”

“I like you.”

The silence grew heavier.

“…What?” was Brian’s simple reply.

“I like you, Brian.”

The next reply was unexpected. The bassist threw up his hands in exasperation and said through gritted teeth, “Not this shit again.”

Jae blinked. “Huh…?”

Brian sighed, annoyance all over his face. “I get it. You want to get out of here quickly. Follow the _damn riddle_ —” He jabbed a finger at the heart-shaped statue, “—and we have a shortcut out of here. Hurrah. Good for you.”

Suddenly understanding the situation, Jae said quickly, “No, wait—”

“It all really meant nothing for you, huh?”

“Brian—”

“It’s cool, Jae, really. It’s really nothing, right? Just two friends kissing to quickly get out of a haunted house. Nothing more, nothing less.”

“Brian, please—”

“Like I said, it’s cool. Just get over here and we’ll kiss a bit and get the hell out of here.”

“BRIAN KANG, LISTEN TO ME, PLEASE!”

It surprised the both of them. Jae had a naturally soft voice so no matter how loudly he yelled, it would still come out soft.

But in that soft voice, there was the heavy sense of urgency. And desperation. Brian stared at him, eyes wide with shock.

They now stood facing each other, Jae’s fingers gripping tighter on his friend’s shoulders. Since when did his hands get there? Jae could only wonder.

“I mean it,” he said. “I like _like_ you.” The words were tumbling freely out of his mouth. “As in, I want to take back what I said in the dorm last year. About forgetting what happened here. About pretending that what happened here never happened. You know what? I was an idiot. I want to take it all back.”

A pause. He kept going.

“I want us to kiss not because I want to fulfill the riddle. Not because I want to get out of this haunted house quickly. But— But because I like you. I want us to kiss because I like you.”

His hands were slightly shaking now. He ignored them.

“I know. Last year, you told me that you weren’t in love with me or anything. I know.” _Oh God, was the hurt in Jae’s voice really that clear?_ Again, he chose to ignore it. “It was selfish of me to suddenly kiss you that time. It took me forever to realize that it wasn’t nothing. It _was_ something. I stopped denying it. I just… I like you, Brian.”

Yet another pause. He hoped it was the last one.

“I… I know you might not feel the same way and I may have just fucked up our friendship. But…” Jae smiled sadly. “Just like Sungjin in our music video… I’m afraid if I’ll regret it if I didn’t tell you.”

The silence came. Each second killed Jae. He wondered if his heart was still intact.

Finally, Brian spoke. His eyes had softened and so did his voice. “And just like Sungjin in the music video, are you giving me the choice of not replying?”

Jae stared at him. The hands that were settled on the bassist’s shoulders finally slid down, hanging limp at Jae’s sides.

“Or do you want an answer?”

 _Here goes everything._ Jae nodded. “I want an answer.”

Brian nodded back. “Don’t turn around, but there’s a ghost behind you.”

“…Wh-what?”

“It’s really, really scary. Holy shit, even I’m getting the chills.”

Jae’s gaze never left his friend. “Brian, I don’t care about any ghost—”

“Close your eyes.”

“What?”

“Close your eyes cuz that ghost is ridiculously scary and I don’t want you to get nightmares.”

“I—”

“Seriously, Jae, just close your damn eyes.”

Jae closed his damn eyes.

What happened next was unexpected. Jae felt a hand on the back of his head, pulling him closer, and then a pair of soft lips pressed gently against his own.

This time, he kept his eyes shut. And this time, he didn’t stay still like a statue.

Instead, he gripped tightly onto the back of Brian’s shirt, trying to keep himself steady because _this was actually happening._

Brian’s fingers were in Jae’s hair, hands gentle yet firm as he deepened the contact. And this time, Jae kissed him back, feeling Brian smile against his lips.

A blinding white light cut through the darkness, but they kept going. The door was opened, but who cared about the door anyways?

More seconds passed when Brian finally pulled away, out of breath. He had the brightest smile on his face. Even brighter than the light coming from the doorway.

“I like you too, Jae.”

The younger man’s hands still resting in his hair, Jae leaned in and let their foreheads touch. “So are we a couple now?”

“Well,” Brian said with a chuckle. “The door opened, didn’t it?”

Jae grinned. “I take that as a yes.” He paused. “There was no ghost, huh?”

“None at all.”

“You little shit.”

Another laugh. “Come on. Let’s get out of here.”

 

 

Jae knew that he would never forget the feel of Brian’s hand in his as they ran out of the haunted house.

 

 

The same photo machine greeted them at the exit, with the same sign that read:   _ **"**_ ** _Haunted_   _house couple photos: $5"_  **

Positively bouncing up and down on his feet, Brian pulled out ten dollars from his wallet and fed it to the machine.

Jae laughed. “Well, someone’s excited.”

“Don’t I have the right to be excited?” Brian said. “Aren’t you excited?”

_Another score for Brian Kang._

Seconds passed as Jae watched the pictures emerged from the machine’s slot. He took one photo in his hand and examined it.  “Of course, I’m excited.”

Brian grinned. “Good.”

“Let’s not get these crumpled up like last year’s.”

“Hell will break loose if that happens.”

 

\---

 

Dowoon was waiting for them by the water fountain.

Taking a bite out of a huge pretzel in his hand, the maknae saw his members making their way towards him.

Mouth full, he waved an arm in a cheerful greeting. The smile on his face grew even brighter when he realized that Jae and Brian were holding hands.

Dowoon swallowed and began shaking in excitement.

Jae and Brian laughed.

The sky was dark. The sun had set, and it was time for the moon to rise. The amusement park lights made the water fountain glow, sprinkling bright droplets. In the background, the sound of roller coaster rides and chattering of people’s voices filled the air.

“Hey, kiddo,” Jae said, thumping his free hand on the youngest boy’s shoulder.

“Hyungs,” Dowoon replied with a nod, letting Jae ruffle his hair.

Brian looked around. “Where’s Sungjin-hyung and Wonpil?”

“In the restroom,” the drummer replied. “They should be out soon.” Then he fished his phone out of his pocket, quickly calling a familiar name.

Dowoon held out the phone, front camera on, as Bernard Park appeared on the screen.

“Well well well,” Bernard said, his voice loud across the small speakers. “What have we got here?”

“Hyung, hyung, guess what!” Dowoon said.

Bernard answered with the same level of enthusiasm, “What what what, Dowoonie!”

The drummer then set the angle so that Jae and Brian were in frame, then tilting the phone down to show their intertwined hands.

Bernard let out a whistle. With a wise face, he sipped on a can of Pepsi. “Very cute. Did you two lose a bet or are you dating or something?” He took another long sip.

“We’re dating,” Brian replied.

Bernard choked violently on his soda again.

The three band members laughed. Seconds later, Bernard regained his composure.

“Well, congrats to you two dumb butts!”

 “Thanks, man,” Jae said. “Please don’t go blurting it out on Music Access, though.”

“The whole world needs to know!” Bernard bellowed dramatically.

“They just got together, Bernard-hyung,” Dowoon said with a pout. “They need some time.”

Bernard laughed brightly. “I’m just kidding, guys. Really though, congrats.” He then focused on Brian. “Remember my words from last year, Mr. Kang? _‘Only time will tell’._ ”

“Yeah, thanks for the words of wisdom,” the bassist answered. “And thanks for pushing me to face the problem and not run away from it.”

“I’m awesome, I know.” Bernard then pointed at the screen. “Dowoon, though. You guys should be thanking Dowoon.  He is _such_ an MVP.”

Dowoon beamed with pride.

“Well, I gotta go now,” Bernard suddenly said. “I got a radio show to host. See ya, idiots.”

The three members said their goodbyes, waving at the camera until the screen went black.

Brian then turned to Dowoon. Without a word, he leaned in and enveloped the maknae in a one-armed hug. “You’re awesome, Dowoonie. You know that, right?”

“Aww, thank you, hyung.”

Throwing an around Dowoon’s shoulders, Jae joined the hug. He thought that he could just pass out from happiness right there and then. He closed his eyes, basking in the feeling.

Soon, they were greeted by Wonpil’s voice and the sound of loud running footsteps.

“I don’t know what’s going on, but I want in!”

And they nearly toppled over when Wonpil slammed into them with his arms open.

Jae couldn’t help it, but he laughed. Everything was perfect, really.

Then they all turned to see Sungjin. The leader was looking at them with the most judgmental look on his face.

They stared back with what must have been _very_ effective puppy eyes. Finally, Sungjin sighed and walked into their warm embrace.

Yup. Everything was just perfect.

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

“Do you remember when I used to write super sad lyrics?”

Jae glanced to his right, where Brian was laying down next to him. They were sprawled over the dorm floor again, listening to an old rock album that the older had suggested.

“I remember quite well,” Jae answered. “The most painful one was the one you were working on in the studio. The night I went there.”

Brian nodded, reaching out and poking his boyfriend on the cheek. “I have a confession to make.”

“Hm?”

“Those lyrics were about you.”

Speechless, Jae just stared at the man next to him. He opened his mouth, frantically wondering how he should begin to apologize. Waves of guilt had slowly emerged, threatening to drown him.

“But,” Brian continued. “The new lyrics are about you too.”

The waves subsided.

Jae smiled. Day6’s songs had become so much brighter, so much happier ever since they walked out of that haunted house, hand in hand. No longer did the lyrics tell the story of a broken hearted man in a broken hearted world.

Now, they told the story of a man in love. Happily and blissfully in love.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for giving this story so much love, guys :") Thanks for every comment, kudos, and everything. It really means a lot ❤ 
> 
> This is my first chaptered story on AO3 and I finally finished it! :"D What do you guys think? I hope the ending was satisfying enough >.<
> 
> \--
> 
>  
> 
> And wow, Every Day6 project has come to an end as well. It was such an awesome year with so much feels asdfghjkl and let's look forward to the boys in 2018!! :"""") Let's get Day6 their first win!
> 
> (What was your favorite Every Day6 song?
> 
> I think all of the songs are gold and I love them all so much, but if I were to choose my top 5 favorite songs, it would be: I Wait, Lean on Me, I Would, I Loved You, and Say Wow.
> 
> BUT SERIOUSLY, EVERY SINGLE SONG FROM EVERY DAY6 IS SO GOOD, HOW DO THEY DO THAT).
> 
> \--
> 
> I also started a new Day6 series: 
> 
> [me in the black and white photo](https://archiveofourown.org/works/12578608/chapters/28650564)
> 
> It's an OT6 story though, about Junhyeok in the survival show The Unit, and Day6 members coping with that fact.
> 
>  
> 
> \---
> 
> you can also find me on twitter :) → [@myday_mytears](https://twitter.com/myday_mytears)


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